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Or sign-in if you have an account. Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with BC Premier David Eby during bilateral talks in Vancouver, B.C., May 20, 2026. (NICK PROCAYLO/PNG)G.K. Chesterton was a little too unkind that “When the real revolution happens, it won’t be mentioned in the newspapers.” It gets the occasional passing reference. But it is fair to claim a considerable gulf between what preoccupied the chattering classes at any given time and the subsequent lessons of history. Including today regarding the desperately overstretched welfare state.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorI’m not saying nobody in France in 1787 mentioned hunger in the countryside. Nor do I deny that The Australian just observed that “With its comfortable parliamentary majority and a federal opposition depleted and in disarray, the Albanese government’s 2026 budget baulked the critical challenges of budget repair, productivity revival and setting the foundations to grow the economy.” But I am saying the verbiage within and surrounding, say, the latest Canadian federal fiscal update is stunningly complacent and preoccupied with partisanship and hollow promises when the real story is Stein’s Law: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againLike borrowing to fund bread and circuses. And, to be sure, boutique conceits of politicians about changing the weather and the economy, including a “Sovereign Wealth Fund” full of IOUs so Mark Carney can leverage the transformative catalytics and hand favoured firms cash. But what will puzzle and enrage historians is endless fussing about the cleverness of his plans and lack of attention to their reckless denial of reality.It was different 40 years ago. Ronald Reagan’s efforts to eliminate the deficit failed nearly as badly as Brian Mulroney’s. But both men really did want to. In the 1990s Jean Chrétien and Ralph Klein applied a tight tourniquet, briefly. Even Justin Trudeau claimed, perhaps sincerely, he would balance the budget. These guys have given up, and we’ve let them.It’s not this politician or that one, or one feckless jurisdiction. The Economist recently asked “Is Britain ungovernable?” and lamented “what Sir Keir’s failure says about the hope for centrist politics in Europe.” Especially since, “Keir won a stonking majority in the 2024 general election. Voters put their faith in him — and we at The Economist endorsed him — because he offered a welcome change after years of Conservative ineptitude and tumult.”They would not, back in the day, have mistaken Starmer’s vapid flimflam for “welcome change.” They used to employ adults now, alas, in short supply despite our aging demographic. As that item continued, “have social democracies Europe-wide become ungovernable? Caught between low growth, high taxes and borrowing and the demand for more public spending, exhausted centrists seem incapable of bringing about change or seeing off the populist challenge from the right and the left.” Exhausted centrists don’t seem to be trying very hard so I’m not sure what wore them out. But I know what didn’t.It wasn’t issuing stern warnings, from within the house or from the hinterland, that you cannot live beyond your means. Instead our persons of state make Ontario’s comically profligate 1990s premier Bob Rae look like Jacob Marley. And where are voters too proud to take money they have not earned, or accept bafflegab and bromides in place of straight talk?As for that “populist challenge,” given the blithe and evasive incompetence of the managerial state, are they better on budgets? Heck no. Instead among the worst offenders here, and given its economic strength with the least excuse, is Donald Trump’s America. As the Washington Times shrieked a couple of weeks back, “U.S. projected to borrow $2 trillion this year … up from $1.7 trillion last year.”So again, it does get mentioned by a few of us cranks. But it’s not part of the national conversation. And what’s scary isn’t the U.S. federal debt passing their economy in size. It’s that almost nobody cares any more. At nearly any level of government anywhere, including from Ottawa to Boston, which I pick on because both are comparatively wealthy yet ridicule the notion of paying their own way, instead mortgaging the future to discharge basic tasks, passing the hat, and calling it leadership in slick press releases.Another Economist article thundered “America must hope Donald Trump is not a new Caligula.” I like assuming the audience would get the reference, and agree that one Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was more than enough. But surely, at the risk of blowing dust off more marble, the original Gaius Julius Caesar, Marius or some other demagogue from the dying days of the Roman Republic is a more appropriate analogy.As you doubtless recall, the Republic’s bread and circuses to pacify the populace was clearly unsustainable fiscally. But politically it was “untouchable.” And the key lesson guys in wigs once drew from the Republic’s decay was that a loss of virtue, and focus, by citizens reduced once-noble institutions to rubble.So pay less attention to floor-crossers, and more to the roar of collapsing masonry. History will.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.